AB: All-Round Nice Guy

Computers are indeed weird inventions - apart from a lot of plastic, some metal and the occasional carbon/silicon giant polymer, most of our interactions with computers are dealing with untouchable, ‘virtual’ things. From the intangible bits of information on our hard drives, the fleeting images on our screens, and to the vibrant hues reflected in our CDs and DVDs, this virtual world has a whole new set of rules and customs as compared to the physical world.

In business circles, people have long since perfected the art of coping with physical information: inboxes, outboxes, photocopiers, filing cabinets, shredders - all the paraphernalia of a typical paper based office.

But in the virtual world, we’re not so proficient in managing our information as robustly - in many many cases, I see people who are experts in paper-based systems treat their equivalent electronic systems without any of the same proficiency nor zeal.

The ‘digital divide’ is said to delineate ‘Generation X’ from ‘Generation Y’ - those who grew up with personal computers vs those who grew up before them. While the definitions of the range of ages of these two generations differs depending on who you talk to, I would suggest that it’s not so much age-based, but confidence-based.

That said, let me pose a few typical computer filing situations, and show you how to ‘file with style’ in the virtual world, and feel more confident with your own digital information.

How do you start your day? Coffee, tea or fresh OJ? Perhaps a slice of toast and the morning paper? For a lot of the population, it’s not only the morning wake-up routine, but it’s also their chance to get their daily dose of news and events.

Newspapers are still a fresh and consistent source of local and regional news and events, with their wide range of columns and inserts, but (you *knew* there was a ‘but’ coming, didn’t you?) newspapers are edited for the general population, with general interest and general topics that generally please everyone…

Let me show you a way to pick and choose your own topics of interest from around the world, and roll-your-own newspaper, so that you can start the day with your perfect selection of news, columns, and advice - and begin your day with coffee and a blog for breakfast.

There’s no secret that the word ‘google’ has gone from an obscure mathematical reference to an internet phenomenon, to the point where it is has now joined the ranks of other marketing heroes such as Hoover and Biro. The word ‘google’ can be considered a noun (’google it’), a verb (’to google’ something), and often, an adjective (’I'm going googling’).

The main touch point most of have with the Google megacompany is their search engine - either google.com, google.com.au, or the search field built in to our browser.

Google is certainly the largest and most impressive search engine on the planet, and with it’s minimalist design, it’s both highly accessible and usable.

But (you knew there was a ‘but’ coming, didn’t you?) searching for things on Google is still a hit-and-miss affair: many, many times you get search results numbering in the tens of millions, while other times, your results can be few and far between, and totally removed from your original intentions of your search.

In the end, Google does the best job it can, but then it leaves us mere humans to filter the results until we find exactly what it is we’re looking for. Humans are good at filtering things - Google isn’t always the best at it.

So, just like getting to know your way around your local library, you realy have to get to know Google if you want to find things faster and easier - the good news is that there are many tips, tricks and techniques to getting the most out of searching for things on the internet - so sit back, and I’ll show you some of the best ones.

Can I please have a show of hands for anyone who uses their computer’s desktop as their filing system? Uh-huh - thought so. It’s a pretty common situation - that of saving ‘important’ files to your computer’s desktop in the vain hope that, since it’s the first thing you see when you fire your computer up in the morning, that something *might actually get done* with those important files.

Yeah, right. Here’s a handy technique for regaining some semblance of control…

If you’re anything like me, your computer is more than just a tool that you use for work - it’s likely that your computer is your virtual ‘filing cabinet’ - full of projects and work in progress, special applications for special purposes, resources and documents for reference when things get tricky, as well as a treasure trove of emails dating back to the last millennium.

In the real world, the physical world, we have places like Ikea to keep our socks and our shoes and our offices organised - but in the virtual world - inside the computers we rely on so heavily for our businesses, we’re (almost) on our own.

We often file things away badly, and often, we don’t file at all. Our productivity in the real world is seen as critical, but our productivity in the virtual world is often way behind. Sound familiar? Read on!

As of June 2006, there were almost 2 million businesses in Australia, and almost 2 out of 3 of those are single-person businesses - the solopreneurs, if you like. A proportion of these businesses must be contractors working for a company as a contracted employee, but the vast majority are people like, well, you and me - soloists who have a niche, and are actively making a go of their business…

…but what happens when soloist turns into… soloist, plus one?

Obviously, you’re doing something right, so my hearty congratulations - but suddenly, some major selling points of being a solo businessperson turn into a real surprise: whereas before, you didn’t have to have meetings with yourself, or write down internal memos from your marketing department to your accounting department - now, suddenly, you have to hand stuff over to your new employee. Very scary stuff.

But how do you get your knowledge out of *your* brain, and into the hands of your new staff? For that matter, this is just as important if you’re in a client/service relationship or even if you’re in a parent/child relationship - so take heed all ye bosses/clients/parents!